vicente sarmiento

The effort is being led by Councilman Sal Tinajero, who says a switch from the current at-large system would lessen the influence of deep-pocketed interests like the city’s police union in Santa Ana politics.

In response to President-elect Donald Trump’s vow for more deportations, council members declared Santa Ana a “sanctuary city.” And they harshly criticized the police union’s tactics during the election campaign.

With his own victory, and those by other police union-backed candidates in Santa Ana City Council races, Mayor Miguel Pulido appears to have regained much of the power he lost in the 2012 “Santa Ana Spring” election.

The longtime Santa Ana mayor has put together a law-and-order coalition in an effort to take back control of the City Council. To succeed, he and his police-union backers must unseat incumbent councilmen Vincent Sarmiento and Roman Reyna.

Some who attended an election forum Tuesday argued that money from the city’s police budget should be redirected toward expanding opportunities for youth. Others said there are already too few cops on the street.

The following is a press release from an organization unaffiliated with Voice of OC. The views expressed here are not those of Voice of OC

SANTA ANA – Santa Ana Councilmember Vicente Sarmiento announced today that U.S. Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez has formally endorsed his re-election to the Santa Ana City Council. “I am proud to have Congresswoman Sanchez’s support and confidence,” said Sarmiento, who presently serves as the City’s Mayor Pro Tem. “An asset to Orange County and our community, I have enjoyed working with Loretta over the last decade to secure important federal funding for a variety of law enforcement, transportation, affordable housing, and community development programs for the City of Santa Ana.”

“I am very much looking forward to continuing to work with her next year after her election to the U.S. Senate,” continued Sarmiento. Sarmiento is a native of Santa Ana, who proudly returned home with his wife Eva after receiving his Bachelors Degree in Economics from UC Berkeley and his Law Degree from UCLA, to help make Santa Ana a thriving and vibrant city. During his ten years on the City Council, he has championed strengthening the City’s finances, increasing funding for additional police officers and public safety resources, lowering the city’s unemployment rate, improving and repairing the city’s local streets and roads, and creating new open space in town. Voice of OC posts press releases to provide readers with information directly from organizations.